Mahmood to set out plan to deport grooming gang leader
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will on Monday announce the legal steps she will take to deport the freed ringleader of a Rochdale grooming gang.
Shabir Ahmed, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2012 for numerous sexual offenses against children, including rape, was released from prison on license earlier this month.
Calls from across the political spectrum have increased for the deportation of Ahmed, who was stripped of his British citizenship following his conviction and was left with only Pakistani citizenship.
But he cannot be deported because of legislation passed in 1971 that prohibits the deportation of a small group of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.
It is not yet clear how Mahmood will change the law.
It also appears that Pakistan has no intention of accepting Ahmed, who claims to have renounced his Pakistani citizenship.
Ahmed was one of nine men convicted of abusing 13-year-old girls at two takeaways from Rochdale and Oldham.
After being released from prison, Ahmed was sent to 24-hour staff accommodation and fitted with a tag that was electronically monitored via GPS.
During his time in the UK, the government said he would be sent back to prison if he breached a number of strict license conditions.
Some of his victims said they were “scared” and felt “unsafe” when they were released.
At the time of his release, his victims were told they could not be deported to Pakistan due to the 55-year-old Immigration Act, which bans the deportation of Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK before 1973 and have been in the country for five years.
Ahmed is exempt from deportation, although he was stripped of his British citizenship when he was jailed.
The Minister of Internal Affairs will determine the legal steps he will take to correct this situation.
It is not known how long it will take to change the law, but a government source previously suggested it could potentially take up to a year.
The Conservatives are pushing for emergency legislation or changes to the current immigration bill going through parliament, as they believe it would take too long to change the 1971 Act.
On Thursday, a spokesman for Sir Keir told reporters: “We are exploring every possible option in this case and this includes speaking to Pakistani officials.”
Mahmood’s anticipated announcement comes less than a week after those grooming gang survivors called for sex offenders to be excluded from early release.
